Firefighters continue to fight catastrophic wildfires

Updated 9:44 pm, Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Reed Griffith, of Montgomery Fire Rescue, helps to assess flames south of Todd Mission in Waller County on Wednesday.

Reed Griffith, of Montgomery Fire Rescue, helps to assess flames south of Todd Mission in Waller County on Wednesday.

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle

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Blackened forest is left behind as large wildfire burns on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Blackened forest is left behind as large wildfire burns on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston

Law enforcement officer man a road block near Magnolia, Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Law enforcement officer man a road block near Magnolia, Texas on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more

A wildfire burns through a forest on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

A wildfire burns through a forest on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than

Law enforcement officers investigate destroyed homes after a wildfire swept through a neighborhood Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Law enforcement officers investigate destroyed homes after a wildfire swept through a neighborhood Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes

Fire consumes a forest as a wildfire burns on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Fire consumes a forest as a wildfire burns on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to

Firefighters stage equipment on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Firefighters stage equipment on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, near Magnolia, Texas. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000

Firefighters work to control a wildfire near Magnolia, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Firefighters work to control a wildfire near Magnolia, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more

Firefighters work to control a wildfire near Magnolia, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more than 1,000 homes that have been destroyed in at least 57 Texas fires. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Firefighters work to control a wildfire near Magnolia, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011. A large blaze burning in forests in Montgomery, Waller and Grimes counties north and west of Houston contributed to more

UPDATE: The AP has reported that ﻿firefighters gained ground Wednesday in Bastrop ﻿County even as the state said the number of homes lost reached almost 800, and a search team set out to find victims in smoking ruins. Meanwhile, a converted DC-10 jetliner capable of dropping 12,000 gallons of fire retardant has arrived in Bastrop but remains sidelined because officials cannot find a qualified pilot to fly it.

UPDATE: The wildfires have prompted Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory concerning small particulate matter including smoke, soot and dust. Officials warn that vulnerable residents, such as the elderly, children and pregnant women, are particularly at risk.

UPDATE: Waller County officials have widened the evacuation area. The area is now south of FM 1488, from Kickapoo south to Joseph. The areas include Kickapoo, Rice and Oak Hollow. Residents are being told to move south of Joseph Road. To see an evacuation map, go to http://ww2.co.waller.tx.us/FireEvacuationMapEXT.pdf.

UPDATE: A wildfire is forcing authorities to evacuate an area of more than 2,000 residents in Waller County Wednesday afternoon, according to the Waller County Sheriff's Office. The area being evacuated is south of FM 1488 between Kickapoo Road and the Montgomery County line.

UPDATE: Four homes have been burned in wildfires in Montgomery County, officials said this afternoon.

Also, River Park Ranch subdivision residents have been allowed to return to their homes, Montgomery County officials said. Residents need to enter and exit via Old Hempstead Road. Ruel and Ranch Crest remain closed.

Fed by wind and parched vegetation, wildfires continued to rage Tuesday through Central Texas, where an out-of-control blaze claimed two lives and 550 homes, and in the Magnolia area, where officials ordered the evacuation of more than 4,000 households.

The Bastrop County fire had burned 33,089 acres of farmland and forest. The fire emptied 20 neighborhoods and left 4,300 additional households without power, Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Victoria Koenig said.

Closer to Houston, the three-county Magnolia-area fire was 85 percent contained by early Wednesday morning after consuming about 7,800 acres, the forest service said. This morning, the most threatening portion of the fire was burning in Grimes County, officials added.

The blaze, known as the Riley Road fire, destroyed about 73 homes in the Remington Forest subdivision Monday night, said Capt. Joe Hester of the Waller County Sheriff's Office.

The Magnolia school district in Montgomery County canceled classes Tuesday and today. A shelter was set up at Magnolia High School, 14350 FM 1488.

The largest burned area from the Riley Road fire was in Montgomery County, which lost about 5,000 acres but only two structures, forest service spokesman Ralph Cullom said.

Montgomery County residents will be allowed to return noon today to three subdivisions that had remained closed: Wisteria Oaks, Magnolia West and River Park Ranch.

The Ranchcrest subdivision, where at least two homes have been damaged, will remained closed until further notice, said Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Captain Rand Henderson.

In the areas that are opening, residents have to show a valid driver's license to show they live there.

Due to the widespread and severe damage and loss of property, Montgomery County Judge Alan B. Sadler has submitted to the state a disaster declaration and has requested state assistance. The declaration was effective immediately.

Waller County authorities say they are battling a wildfire fire that has flared up along Riley Road west of FM 1774, a mostly forested area. There are, however, homes sprinkled throughout the area.

Officials are trying to make sure residents stay out of the area.

The fire destroyed 2,500 acres in Waller County and 300 acres in Grimes County, Cullom said.

About a third of Waller County remained under mandatory evacuation late Tuesday afternoon, in the area east of FM 362, Hester said.

"The main thing we'd like everyone to understand is that we can't let them back in for safety reasons," he said.

FM 1774 between FM 1486 and the Waller County line will remain closed because wildfires continue to flare up there.

Fourteen fire departments from unincorporated areas of Harris County sent 75 to 100 firefighters and 50 pieces of equipment to the Riley Road fire, said Thomas Petty, senior inspector for the Harris County fire marshal's office.

Most had returned by Tuesday morning, Petty said.

The Tomball Fire Department, however, was continuing Tuesday evening to rotate crews to the Magnolia area to staff three pieces of equipment on loan for the effort, said Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr.

The unpredictable blaze forced officials to close FM 1488 at FM 1774 west of the Waller County/Montgomery County line, as well as FM 1774 west of FM 1486 in Grimes County.

In Bastrop County, Sheriff Terry Pickering declined to provide details about the deaths other than to say that the victims were not police or firefighters. Officers had not been able to identify the bodies, he said.

Gov. Rick Perry said a 100-member search team will comb the area this morning for more possible victims. He said the number of homes destroyed by wildfires since last December had surpassed 1,000 statewide. Some 3.5 million acres have burned.

Perry took a helicopter tour of the burned Steiner Ranch area in Travis County. That fire was under control enough for residents of the development to be allowed to return two days after the sudden, stubborn wildfire chased them from their homes.

"It's going to be another three or four days before it's out. We're going to baby-sit this thing like a bad child," said Jim Linardos, chief of Lake Travis Fire Rescue.

Reduced winds slowed the Bastrop fire's advance Tuesday, but it remained a challenge.

Besides the two killed in Bastrop County, a woman and her 18-month-old child died Monday when a fast-moving fire near Glade­water in East Texas set their mobile home on fire.

"It's burning in really heavy timber fields that burn incredibly hot and very intensely," Forest Service spokeswoman Holly Huffman said. "It's not like a grass fire, where they can get out and attack it."

The city of Bastrop was not threatened, Forest Service spokesman John Nichols said, but the Bastrop County Complex fire, as it has been named, is the most destructive wildfire on record in Texas.

State lawmakers - led by Perry's stand against raising taxes or dipping too deeply into the state's rainy day fund - cut appropriations for the Texas Forest Service even as they had to dig for more money to meet existing expenses.

Even the supplemental spending bill they passed this year will not be enough to cover the expense of fighting fires through Aug. 31, the end of the 2010-11 fiscal period. The state agency anticipates it will need another $61 million to cover those costs.

Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said the Legislature had provided agencies the flexibility to meet emergencies with their regular budgets, and Perry is seeking federal assistance.

Staff Writers Colin McDonald and Eva Ruth Moravec in San Antonio contributed to this report.